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National Security Student Association

Caitlin Stock

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Monthly Archives: May 2020

BNPP Threat Level Assessment and Options

By Caitlin Stock
June 25, 2021 11:06 PM
Context
4 Min Read
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Monthly Archives: December 2019

America, Syria, and the Kurds

By Caitlin Stock
June 19, 2021 11:27 PM
Last month, President Trump announced plans to relocate American troops from the Northern Syrian/Southern Turkish border. Since the withdrawal, Turkey has launched several ground attacks on the border of northern Syria, which is part of the area known internationally as Kurdistan. The attacks are part of Turkey’s “Operation Peace Spring”, a military assault designed to “prevent the creation of terror corridor across [the Turkish] southern border,”[1][2] according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. President Erdogan expressed his intention to “crush [the] heads”[3] of Kurdish militants in this attack. Many native Kurdish people on the border of Turkey and Syria are seeking refuge in nearby areas as the situation intensifies.
5 Min Read
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Monthly Archives: September 2019

Saudi Nuclear Ambitions

By Caitlin Stock
June 17, 2021 01:58 PM
Over the past two and a half years of the Trump administration, American energy companies have quietly made deals with Saudi Arabian energy officials to begin trading information on nuclear energy.[1] The United States and Saudi Arabia see nuclear development as a very symbiotic and lucrative deal, which could bring the US several billions of dollars in trade revenue every year. However, several politicians and energy officials fear that a nuclear arms race will develop between Iran and SA.[2] SA hopes to both satisfy its increasing power needs and protect itself.[3] Despite some hesitations, the US has moved forward with authorizations as the Kingdom hopes to build two new plants in the coming years.
5 Min Read
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Monthly Archives: August 2019

The Threat and Death of Hamza bin-Laden

By Caitlin Stock
June 17, 2021 01:38 PM
Introduction
4 Min Read
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Monthly Archives: August 2019

U.S.-Iran Relations

By Caitlin Stock
June 16, 2021 10:01 PM
US-Iran relations have grown increasingly troubled since the election of President Trump. Given the recent rhetoric from the current administration, some worry about the possibility of conventional armed conflict between the two states. Military maneuvers on both sides have postured the two nations for conflict despite some congressional efforts to prevent war. In June, an unmanned US drone was shot down in what Iran claimed was its airspace. President Trump accused Iran of “warmongering”[1] while Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that the drone had “violated Iranian airspace.”[2] In July, Iranian officials detained a British tanker in response to Britain’s detainment of an oil tanker in Gibraltar.[3]
6 Min Read
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Monthly Archives: February 2019

Democracies, Militaries, and Insurgencies: Islamic Fundamentalism in Libya and Chad

By Caitlin Stock
February 09, 2019 03:06 PM
After the death of Muhammar Ghaddafi and the subsequent end of the Libyan Jamahiriya, Libya’s transitional government has since crumbled into a multifaceted conflict with different political groups vying for power and influence over potent oil fields. The General National Congress (GNC) took control over Libya after the death of Ghaddafi as a representative assembly. Internal fragmentation in the GNC precluded agreements on political issues and was unable to withstand several other warring factions. Several former political officials fled Tripoli (and the GNC) to Tobruk, a city on the eastern border of Libya, and established a second parliament known as the House of Representatives. The Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by Khalifa Haftar, is recognized as a quasi-military unit, comprised of trained military officials alongside tribal and regional groups of soldiers. The LNA is not recognized by the GNC as a military force; instead, the GNC recognizes Haftar as an agitator and a “warlord”. In addition to the two existing governments and the LNA, Islamic fundamentalist groups loyal to ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood exist throughout the state and commit various terrorist acts and beheadings.
4 Min Read
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Monthly Archives: January 2019

Sudan in Transition: al-Bashir facing Protests

By Caitlin Stock
January 26, 2019 12:56 PM
Recent protests in Sudan have called to see the end of the 30-year military dictatorship of President Omar al-Bashir (Mampilly 2018). Protests began in December 2018 in Atbara and Khartoum and have continued almost daily against the President, demanding his resignation and the establishment of national democratic elections (al-Jazeera News 2019). Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman stated that the country has “experienced 381 protests since 18 December…[t]he total number of protesters arrested until now is 816” (NightWatch 2019). Since South Sudan declared independence in 2011, the country has plunged into the worst economic crisis in the nation’s history. Devaluation of currency, shortage of cash, severe inflation, high food prices, and gas shortages are among the primary motivations for a change in leadership.
4 Min Read
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